The always interesting Art Review has published the following story:

After an unpleasant fall-out with the University of Edinburgh, prominent Scottish artist Douglas Gordon has vowed never to accept a public commission in Scotland again, reports the Independent.  Gordon was to create a site-specific work for the redevelopment of the library at the University of Edinburgh, which opened this Autumn. The artist proposed to inscribe the words “Every time you turn a page, it dies a little” in gold lettering on the walls, but the words were felt to be too negative for the library and the artist pulled out, partly in response to his treatment by the institution …  “Many artists are treated disrespectfully by the institutions they are making commissions for,” he said. “Most think they cannot afford to say no, but I can, so I had to.” Gordon said … he was “humiliated”, and would “never again accept a public commission in my home country”.

I believe entirely in artistic freedom.  But I happen to believe that artistic freedom includes the right of a commissioning institution to say that an artist’s proposal is unsuitable for the particular site or use.  Douglas Gordon obviously disagrees.  His loud-mouthed petulance does artists in general a disservice and gives us all a bad name.

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An intriguing premise for a full-length feature, the idea behind Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is simple. Back in April of 2005, Real Madrid–replete with Zinedine Zidane, arguably the world’s finest footballer at the time–played Villareal in the Spanish league. At that game, seventeen cameras were all trained on Zidane.

The film? At heart, it’s 90 minutes of following the great man around a football field. Yet it’s fascinating. Really. Save for the odd subtitled comment, and a not-entirely-comfortable compilation of the day’s news that’s interspersed at half time, the focus is purely one man playing a game of football. It’s not a raging success by any means, and there are moments in Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait where the interest level significantly drops. Yet when it works, it really works astoundingly well, and you’d be hard-pushed to find any other film that does anything even vaguely similar. It’s backed, it should be noted, with excellent supporting music too.

The 2006 World Cup, of course, gave Zidane’s career an ending it never really deserved. And while Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait isn’t a dish that everyone’s going to warm to, those that do will surely be left reflecting on one of football’s greatest geniuses, rather than one mad moment in Germany. Turner Prize-winning artist and filmmaker Douglas Gordon teams up with French artist Philippe Parreno to create a work glorious in its simplicity.

RunTime: 91 min

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Watch the Full Documentary Now

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By Rory Reynolds

TURNER-prize winning artist Douglas Gordon has said he will never accept a commission in Scotland again after being treated like a “16-year-old apprentice” by Edinburgh University.

The Glaswegian shunned an invitation to open the institution’s new library after they criticised a work that they had commissioned him to make for not being “positive” enough.

Gordon – a world-renowned artist after winning the Turner prize in 1996 – said he had ironed out the details with the university, only to find that they had refused to pay for him to travel to the opening, or to stay in Edinburgh.

He had proposed to inscribe the words: “Every time you turn a page, it dies a little” in gold letters on the new library building.

But one of the panel members who was involved in the commission admitted that the institution hadn’t told the artist that the piece had to be positive when they assigned him the £20,000 budget.Gordon said he felt humiliated by the university, saying: “I will never again accept a public commission in my home country.

Impossible

“I felt I was being treated like a 16-year-old apprentice and not a professional.

“When it turned out that not only did I have to pay for everything myself, but the artists were not even mentioned in the invitation, it all became too much.”

Gordon then wrote to the university, reportedly saying: “It has become impossible for me to work with the commissioning body.

“Many artists are treated disrespectfully by the institutions they are making commissions for.

“Most think they cannot afford to say no, but I can.”

Gordon is best known for his award-winning black and white film about star footballer Zinedine Zidane, which is currently owned by the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Professor Andrew Patrizio, part of the university’s advisory panel, and who described Gordon’s work as “poetic”, said that Gordon hadn’t been asked to take a positive approach by the university.

He said: “Several people felt that the wording was not celebratory enough for the opening of a library, even though the artist had not been briefed to create a ‘positive’ commission.

“Though one could read it negatively, it is important to stress that nobody had ever asked the artist for something celebratory.”

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh University said: “Art always stimulates debate and that is something that as a university we absolutely welcome.

“However, it would be entirely inappropriate for us to elaborate on the private discussions we have with individuals or organisations when we seek to commission work from them.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Je hebt nog maar drie dagen van de tien om in Huize Frankendael de samenwerking met het Stedelijk in de stad te bekijken. Het Stedelijk heeft zes van zijn topvideowerken tentoon gesteld in het statige pand aan de Middenweg te Amsterdam. Elk werk krijgt ruim de aandacht door de unieke setting van de kamers. Of zoals de organisatie zelf schrijft:

“In ‘The Living’ ontvouwt de tentoonstelling zich als een verhaal met een plot, waarbij ieder werk een eigen kamer of salon invult. De routing door het huis, met de keuze van de werken voor specifieke kamers, sluit aan bij de geschiedenis van Frankendael als voormalig woonhuis. The Living is een intense video-ervaring, die niet snel vergeten zal worden.” Stedelijk in de Stad

Douglas Gordon – “24 Hour Psycho”

Douglas Gordon – “Hand and Foot”

Douglas Gordon – “Confessions of a Justified Sinner”

Pierre Huyghe – “Anlee”

Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich. Actual artist: Douglas Gordon – “(Aktuell: Douglas Gordon)” – Exhibition dates are 29.08.09. Get more information about Douglas Gordon – Museum or Gallery informations: Zürich, Galerie Eva Presenhuber by Wikipedia.org / Portal:Arts. Buy arts from Douglas Gordon or find objects, articles or web-projects? Art online: Douglas Gordon by adaweb.com | Biography – Textportrait from Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon. Articles and texts:

Textimages: Ground Zero, New York (Ralph Ueltzhoeffer 2009)

Ralph Ueltzhoeffer: Textportraits.

EXHIBITION – artist: Douglas Gordon, location: Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich, date: 29.08.09 / current exhibitions at: Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich 2009. Artistinformation and biography-text from: Douglas Gordon Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich CATEGORY: art, modern art, projects: TEXTPORTRAITS Douglas Gordon by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer and Laura May. More information about Douglas Gordon Exhibition Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich, Switzerland.

New entries: actual 0

Ground Zero, New York / Portrait (TEXTPORTRAIT).

textportraits by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich; Künstler: Douglas Gordon; Betitelung: (Aktuell: Douglas Gordon) – Zeitraum der Ausstellung: 29.08.09. Kunstausstellungen (Schweiz) aktuell: Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich (2009). Weitere Informationen über: Douglas Gordon: Biografie/Biography — | Galerieninformationen/Gallery: Douglas Gordon — Weitere geplante Ausstellungen: Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich von Douglas Gordon — Douglas Gordon Kunstportal: Wikipedia (http://de.wikipedia.org). Mehr aktuelle Informationen über Douglas Gordon Galerie Eva Presenhuber Zürich.

Beitragsforum Kunst & Kultur allgemein:

Textportrait: Ground Zero, New York.

Textportraits – Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Winding throught the now humid days of summer since last I wrote after that bizzare dream starring the Clintons which was had after a day going around every which way on the roller coasters at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania the highlights have been have been sparingly accrued.

The highlight of  highlights had to have been attending the Robert Wilson benefit for his project in Watermill. During the auction the famed maestro Phillip DePury trotted around and during his sale of a portrait of Ingrid Bergman (sold to the Countess Von Bernstein for 100,000 dollars or so) got her daughter Isabella Rossellini who just happened to be nearby to stand up during the proceedings (the fact that the Blue Velvet star soon ascended the stairs out of there afterwards could have been done due to the spotlight having been shown upon her perhaps in the wrong context).

Later after dessert had been served we were up in the silent auction area where looking at the bid sheet on a small Neo Rauch the last signatory was $9,000 by one Rufus Wainwright and I looked up  and said oh Rufus Wainright .

Earlier in the day we had attended a party at the Starn Twins studio in the old Talix foundry in Beacon, New York (where they had made Leonardo’s horse anew several times from the original design) and observed their Bambu project which had climbers executing there plans from computer generations for the giant structure.  Their work abounded  throughout the giant space.

The day’s tragectory taking us from Portchester, New York to Beacon to Water Mill on Long Island took us onto highways multiple times which the next day claimed twelve lives.  In every instance we escape danger how greatful we should be .

One Starn Twin on one side of the Studio

And the other Starn Twin on the side other than the other brother

Flaming star, 1960

את הדימוי האיקוני לעיל כולם מכירים, אנדי וורהול דאג לזה היטב. מה שכן, אנחנו לא רגילים לראות אותו בצבע… ואנחנו גם לא רגילים לראות את קצה קודקודו ואת תחתית נעליו של המלך.

הצילום הזה, שאלביס נראה בו כמו פסל במאדאם טוסו, לקוח מסדרת צילומי פרסום של סרט כושל משנות ה-60 בשם Flaming star. אנדי וורהול נטל את הצילום (חדי העין יבחינו כי לא מדובר בדיוק בפריים הזה אלא בפריים דומה) והדפיס אותו 28 פעמים בסה”כ, בצבע שחור על קנבס צבוע בכסף, בווריאציות שונות – כדימוי בודד, כפול ומשולש. ובהמשך גם בצביעה מלאכותית.

Andy Warhol, Elvis (triple Elvis), 1963, 35x28 cm

Andy Warhol, Elvis 1 and 2, 1964, acrylic and silkscreened ink on canvas

מי שבאו בעקבותיו של וורהול, התייחסו כצפוי באופן ישיר לדימוי שלו ולא לצילום המקורי.  אחד מאלה הוא דאגלאס גורדון (Douglas Gordon 1966) שהציג ב-2007 בגלריה גגוזיאן (Gagosian) תערוכה שהורכבה ממראות, עשן והרבה דימויים קרועים ומרופטים של הדפסים של וורהול, כולל מרלין, ג’קי, ג’ון וויין וכמובן אלביס.

אחד אחר הוא יקירינו ג’ף קונס, שלקח את כל העניין צעד אחד קדימה ויצר הכלאה משעשעת בין הענק הירוק (The Incredible Hulk) לבין הדימוי של אלביס. [הערת המערכת: הסרט מ-2008 עם אדוארד נורטון דווקא מעולה] קונס יצר בובות מתנפחות חמדמדות, וכן שילב את דמותו של הענק בציורים רבים.

Douglas Gordon, Self-Portrait of You + Me (Elvis), 2007, 99x197 cm Gagosian Gallery, New York

Jeff Koons + Hulk and Friends

Jeff Koons, The Hulks

Jeff Koons, Triple Hulk Elvis 1, 2007, oil on canvas, 274x371 cm

ואילו בזירה המקומית, יוסף קריספל (1974), שתערוכה שלו מוצגת בימים אלה במוזיאון ת”א (ואנחנו מתאמנים באותו חדר כושר…), הציג לא מזמן תערוכת יחיד בסדנאות האמנים שהוקדשה כולה לדימוי המדובר ולכמה דימויים שקשורים בו:

יוסף קריספל, ללא כותרת, 2007, שמן על בד, 150X100 ס"מ כ"א

יוסף קריספל, ללא כותרת, 2007, שמן על בד, 170X130 ס"מ + 40X40 ס"מ, 6 חלקים

Also one of my favorite artist’s as he plays around with the scale and timing of his art works, His work also relates to my work as i will be using the same sort of idea with scale and stuff like that..

Mostra em cartaz no MIS e Paço das Artes celebra o ano da França no Brasil

Em comemoração às festividades do ano da França no Brasil, o Museu da Imagem e do Som de São Paulo (MIS) e o Paço das Artes recebem 21 trabalhos de 17 artistas franceses ou radicados no país para a mostra Entre-Temps. A exposição com curadoria de Odile Burluraux e Angeline Scherf, reúne três décadas de trabalhos de artistas que influenciaram a videoarte mundial, compondo para os paulistanos um verdadeiro panorama da arte visual contemporânea.

As obras fazem parte do acervo do Museu de Arte Moderna da cidade de Paris e ficarão expostas nos dois museus de São Paulo, sendo que onze ficarão no MIS e as outras, no Paço das Artes. De modo geral, a seleção de vídeos está bastante politizada, apresentando visões a respeito do teste com a bomba atômica em meados de 1945, no Novo México, a partir da vídeoprojeção Atomic Park, de Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Já o albanês radicado na França, Anri Sala, retoma o contexto do comunismo em seu país, no trabalho Intervista, para discutir a realidade da Albânia.

O destaque fica para as obras do projeto No Ghost, Just a Shell, criado em 1999 por Pierre Huygue e Phillippe Parreno. O objetivo da dupla de artistas franceses, que também têm obras na Entre-Temps, é propor a cada convidado criar uma história para Ann Lee. A convidada Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster elaborou uma animação 3D para apresentar a personagem em um vídeo pessimista sobre “um lugar sem volta”, como diz em japonês a protagonista de Ann Lee in Anzen Zone.

Outro trabalho de Phillippe Parreno, desta vez em parceria com Douglas Gordon é Zidane, un portrait du 21ème siècle (2006). Trata-se de um registro em tempo real de uma partida entre o Real Madri e Villareal em que 17 câmeras foram utiilizadas somente para filmar o craque. Até mesmo os microfones estavam sincronizados para captar detalhes de Zidane, desde o barulho para ajeitar os meiões, até a sua respiração. Existem trechos disponíveis no Youtube.

A mostra Entre-Temps ficará em cartaz até o dia 22 de junho no MIS e até dia 28 do mesmo mês no Paço das Artes. Os museus ficam abertos diariamente, mas fecham às segundas. No Paço das Artes, o acesso é gratuito, enquanto no MIS a entrada é de quatro reais a inteira (2 reais a meia) e é de graça aos domingos.

Serviço
MIS- Avenida Europa, 158- Jardim Europa. Telefone: 2117-4777
Paço das Artes- Avenida da Universidade, 1- Cidade Universitária. Telefone: 3814-4832

The Subversive Spaces exhibition at the Manchester Whitworth Gallery has two themes – Psychic Interiors and Wandering the City, one looking inside the home and the other looking outside.

If you go to see this exhibition (it runs until 4th may 2009), make sure you book tickets for Kinderzimmer as soon as you arrive – we went on a quiet day and, arriving at around 10:50am, we got tickets for 12:10 and 12:20pm. It’s free, but can only be experienced by one person at a time, so tickets and slots are taken quickly. For us, this was perfect as it allowed us plenty of time to explore the other exhibits while we waited, but the possibility for disappointment will be high on a busy day.

So we started our visit by wandering the rest of the gallery first. Gallery 2 contains Agents of Change, with most of the space taken up with Lynn Hershman Leeson’s Roberta Breitmore, Roberta being a character that Leeson created in the 70’s. Roberta existed as an independent person, having her own persona, psychiatrist, friends, etc. The Whitworth has purchased all 172 items of this work, and a very limited number are on display here. We see such items as the personal ad Roberta placed for a roommate, and a meeting she had with one of the people who responded to the ad. Also displayed are a letter from her psychiatrist, plus other items which together give an outline of the Roberta project. The original project highlighted the construction of female identity by social and cultural pressures, and the victimisation of women. However I couldn’t help but reflect on how there may be an additional message brought about by the current climate – how easy it appears to be to construct a fictional persona, complete with supporting documents. In these days of identity fraud and terrorism I feel this is an additional facet that may either enhance or distract from the original message.

The second part of Agents of Change was 5 drawings by Tracey Emin, the subject of all being herself. I’m in two minds about these – simple line sketches, I had no objection to them per se, but cannot help but think that, as Emin apparently produces these sketches on a daily basis, as long as galleries are willing to pay for them it’s a bit of a cash cow. Should we really be paying for every little thing that drops from an artists’ imagination? Maybe we should, I’ve found myself getting excited over Da Vinci sketches in the past.

Gallery 5 contains Putting on the Glitz, an exhibition of wallpapers the like of which you won’t have seen in your local B&Q. These are papers of metals, minerals, leathers, or sometimes impressive imitations, but all requiring the possession of something rather grander than your average semi-detached to display them to their greatest effect. Some are spectacular, some are beautiful, some of them resemble garish metallic multicoloured wrapping paper, and one wonders if the addition of a couple of tabs of acid would create a truly mind-bending experience. My house needs decorating, I’m having some peculiar flights of fancy…….

Upstairs is Art and Labour’s Cause is One, an extensive exhibition of Walter Crane’s work combining his wonderful art (yes I am a fan!) with his socialist views. I was embarrassed to find myself particularly excited by some pictures that weren’t even by Crane, but Albrecht Durer, but justified myself by appreciating how Crane had incorporated Durer’s work into his own. The other thing that struck me was the collection of items relating to the Peterloo Massacre, particularly with the very recent events at the G20 protests. Not on the same scale as Peterloo, but have things really changed that much?

Onto Subversive Spaces. The first installation was instantly recognisable, as I am now in year 6 of a part-time psychology degree. Film of a hysterical woman, (Douglas Gordon’s video installation, Hysterical (1995)) as described by Charcot then later Freud. Hysteria initially struck me as a way of avoiding dealing with problems, or a way of attracting attention, but taken in the context of women’s rights, or lack of them, at the time it strikes me that actually it may be the only way that women of the time could protect their sanity albeit by appearing to temporarily lose it.

The next exhibit is Sarah Lucas’s installation The Pleasure Principle (2000) – a good choice for the first physical piece as copulating furniture is almost guaranteed to stop you in your tracks. The piece can be looked at as purely some furniture, some clothing and a striplight. Put them together though, and something far darker appears, one almost feels dirty for examining the piece – I’m still pondering what exactly is so disturbing about this piece, perhaps it’s the passionless functionality of the items, sex as repression, fantasy, meaningless power-play sex. Or maybe it’s just furniture after all.

I cannot review every piece in this initial review, however I will attempt to cover most of the pieces over the next few weeks. But highlights include:

Rene Magritte: Man With a Newspaper (1928) – as Mr Pharmcat says a real picture.

Tony Oursler’s The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Never Seen – a film of a woman’s face as she exclaims in apparent rapture, projected onto a mannequin trapped under a sofa. Strangely compelling – what is the woman ecstatic about? Is she completely subdued into domestic drudgery and exclaiming like a Stepford Wife? Or is she seeing beyond the role society has defined for her, into an ecstatic bliss she will never be able to experience?

So before I sign off for the night, as it’s late and I’ve partaken of an entire bottle of prosecco..

Kinderzimmer. Gregor Schneider’s installation. The curator helpfully explains that the installation is in complete darkness, and if I would like to leave my coat, pamphlets and brolly behind she will watch them for me. Because it really is black, and I’ll need my hands to grope my way around. The installation is entered by means of parallel curtains, then the blacked-out South Gallery is entered. The only way to move around is to feel the walls and fumble your way around. Eventually I find your way to a lit nursery room – a replica of a nursery that was originally in a village that has since been demolished to make way for a mine. Further exploration reveals a projection of the original building. This installation was both exciting and disappointing. The idea of the darkened gallery, with no visual clues was superb. Slightly ruined by the fact that modern health and safety rules guarantee that no harm can come to the visitor – how much more exciting if there were obstacles to be avoided! Exploring the space was strangely enjoyable, where were the limits of the space, what was going to be found within it? Perhaps the health and safety added to the experience – a chance to wander blindly whilst knowing that exploration will not have potentially fatal consequences. The excitement is in the chase – once the room has been explored and understood, the excitement dissipates rapidly. This is one experience where the journey is far more enjoyable than the arrival, however it is still an experience well worth experienceing. Perhaps I may be slightly jaded – I have after all spent many a night in darkened spooky buildings, something that I guess most of the public will not have done, so parts of the experience may not be quite as novel as to some.

And I’m afraid the rest of the exhibition will have to wait for another day for its review. Goodnight all.

I happen to think Zidane to be the most talented footballer of his generation, probably since Maradona (and since Maradona is the greatest footballer I have ever seen that’s no slight upon him) but he has been pretty ill-served by this film.  Zizou, though a big man, was so graceful and perfectly balanced that his movements were sublime- balletic almost.  It is such a shame, then, that during the game which forms almost entirety of this film he has very little of the ball.  And then gets sent off at the end.  In some ways that says more about the volatile nature of genius than about Zidane the footballer, though, which is a happy accident.

But for a brief half time interlude, this film follows Zidane via numerous camera angles, throughout a ninety minute game near the very end of his career.  It was by no means his best performance- though he does create a goal with one outstanding piece of skill- and he spends most of the film standing and waiting (curiously without a marker within yards of him) for passes that never arrive.  Football fans happening upon this film will be infuriated by footage of Zidane standing at the edge of a wall while a team-mate takes a free-kick or watching his side concede a penalty.  For a fan it’s like looking peeking through the keyhole at a girl you know is getting undressed but maddeningly can’t quite see.  And the action going on around him- which should be unimportant according to the theme of the film- isn’t always ignored.  The score is flashed up occasionally and key match moments in which Zizou doesn’t feature are played and replayed.  Come on guys, we want to see all or nothing- these half-measures are disappointing in the extreme.

Purely as a piece of art, though, the film is more successful.  Not successful, just more successful.  Set to a great original soundtrack by Mogwai- with intermittent match noise and authentic commentary from Spain- and featuring sporadic subtitled quotes from Zidane himself about the nature of football as a spectacle and as a game, there are some great visual pieces and the utilisation of the footage is great.  Especially on the odd occasions that he is doing something.  But the task of making a sweaty guy standing around for an hour and a half at all invigorating is sadly too great.  It cannot and doesn’t hold the attention.  But it does look and sound great. 3/10

Douglas Gordon

Marlon Brando